Scientists Report Discovery Of Biomarker For HIV Vaccine
Scientists from the University of London, St. George’s, and Bionor Pharma published the results of an exploratory analysis of a Phase II study investigating an HIV vaccine that revealed a possible biomarker for patients receiving the vaccine.
Vacc-4x is a therapeutic HIV vaccine designed to enable the immune system to recognize and attack the virus to control the disease for prolonged periods of time. Successful control and management of HIV may help in reducing or entirely crossing out the need for daily antiretroviral therapy (ART).
Bionor Pharma is currently working with St. George’s, University of London in researching HIV-linked immune activation that fuels HIV progression. The pharmaceutical company has worked on the peptide C5/gp41732-744, which can be used to identify antibodies against a part of the HIV envelope glycoprotein. Previous research has indicated that the presence of antibodies in this part of the virus may slow down disease progression in patients not undergoing ART.
The scientists’ analysis of antibody responses to the peptide showed that those with baseline anti-C5/gp41732-744 antibody levels above 4μg/ml after receiving Vacc-4x showed a meaningful reduction in median viral load, compared to those who received placebo. This means that the anti-C5/gp41732-744 antibody levels can be used as a biomarker to indicate which patients will respond to Vacc-4x.
Professor Angus Dalgleish, of St George's, University of London, said, “In spite of very effective drugs against HIV these need to be taken daily and have significant side-effects. The ability to replace this daily medication with a vaccine that allows several months of being off medication, not to mention the enormous financial gains that would be delivered to health services, is a step closer with these preliminary results.”
The scientists’ findings were presented at the AIDS 2014 Conference held in Melbourne, Australia.
Other companies are currently hard at work studying and developing vaccines against HIV. Sanofi Aventis’ vaccine division, Sanofi Pasteur, is currently conducting a clinical development program for its HIV vaccine regimen. The company first shared results of its Phase III clinical trial in 2009 demonstrating safety and modest efficacy in preventing HIV in volunteers. The company has scheduled Phase I studies in South Africa this year and further efficacy studies in 2015.
Earlier this month IGX Bio secured approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to launch human trials of gene pro, a DNA-based vaccine for HIV.